The “rub of the green” Sampson referred to applied in particular to the defeat by Germany in their second game of the four-nation tournament.

England had been the equal of the Americans in their opening match at Tampa Bay but lost out to a fantastic goal by Crystal Dunn.

After then taking the lead against Germany in Nashville through a Toni Duggan header, it was a freak own goal by Gilly Flaherty and a highly dubious penalty awarded against Fara Williams that led to defeat.

Sampson said: “The own goal was one slip in a blue moon, and to concede a goal from a penalty that should never have been was so frustrating.

“It would be nice to get those rub of the green calls, but against the best two teams in the world it was small margins.

“We can take the positives out of both games, and against the third best team in the world we’ll aim to end the tournament on a high.”

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